St. Patrick's Day: Irish promote health in Africa

On this St. Patrick’s Day, I am honored to have the chance to tell all of our committed supporters about the work World Vision's advocates in Ireland are doing to assist communities in six African nations.

* * *

AIM Health

I want to introduce one particular program that we are particularly proud of: AIM Health.

The Access Infant and Maternal Health Program -- or AIM Health -- tackles the issues of preventable child deaths. Have a look at this graphic to understand what I mean. (Click here to open in a larger window.)

Our goals

Our goals are set! We want to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates by 25 percent by 2015. AIM Health will benefit over 75,000 pregnant women and another 75,000 children (aged 0-24 months); and over 2,000 community health workers will be trained to deliver our health messages to households in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mauritania, and Sierra Leone.

It’s already begun

Already a lot of work has been done. Our staff members on the ground have been recruited and, in turn, are training health facilitators. We have been working with national ministries of health to receive their full cooperation and are registering eligible women for the program.

How we fund it

In a time when all you hear from Ireland is about our economic struggles, it would be easy for our government to step away from foreign aid. Instead, it is the government and its Irish Aid branch that are fully funding this project. They see how it will change lives for the better.

A bond between two nations

So you see the bond between our nations is as strong as ever -- in our heritage and in our work together to make the world a better place!

From all of us here in Ireland, thank you for supporting World Vision and our work across the globe.

And of course, St. Patrick’s Day blessings to you, your family, and friends.

* * *

Evelyn Wolf is the head of marketing and fundraising for the World Vision office in Dublin, Ireland.

For about $1 a day, child sponsorship helps provide a child in need with access to life-saving basics like clean water, healthcare, nutritious food, and more. Sponsor a child in Uganda or another country of your choice today!